Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire Receives Grant Award

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire (BBBSCE) has been notified they are one of 97 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) affiliate agencies that will receive a 2013-2014 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquent Prevention (OJJDP) pass-through grant. BBBSCE will receive $61,250.oo from BBBSA beginning in January 2013.

“We are thrilled and honored to receive this grant,” said John Kendricks, Executive Director of BBBSCE. Grant recipients use the award to target three youth populations: youth who are involved with the juvenile justice system; youth that have active duty military parents; and Tribal Youth on Native American Reservations. “The intent of the grant is to reduce at-risk behaviors that lead to juvenile delinquency,” Kendricks said. In his award notification letter, Beth Morgan, Director of Grantee Support and Performance at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, wrote, “You were chosen for your propensity for success!”

This award will allow BBBSCE to match 20 kids who are involved with the juvenile justice system. “While we are horrified by the shooting at the Coastal Empire County Fair,” Kendricks said, “hopefully this event will be a catalyst for our community to invest in preventive programs like ours.” Current research reveals that preventive programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters are a cost effective way for communities to effectively deal with juvenile delinquency. “OJJDP is investing in our program because research shows it works.”

Real life stories support the research too. A Big Brother or Big Sister like Garnasia Bogus of Port Wentworth can have a powerful impact in the life of a child. According to Kendricks, “Garnasia’s Little Sister was a very troubled youth who had been suspended from school. She was in and out of the youth detention center. But when the Little Sister was matched with Garnasia in February 2012, they immediately bonded. Garnasia’s Little Sister recently told a United Way Investment Panel that Garnasia has changed her life and she loves Garnasia. The Little Sister told Kendricks, “It’s the small things that Garnasia does for me that makes our relationship so special.” She now wants to finish high school and enter the military, just as Garnasia did.

The grant will also allow BBBSCE to serve 15 children with active duty military parents. Clearly, OJJDP is investing in these children because research by the Department of Defense shows that military families are under tremendous stress caused by the many deployments they have faced since 9/11.

For example, BBBSCE will soon match a brother and sister in Hinesville whose mother will deploy for the third time in January. “She is a single mother with three children, and her elderly mother will become their caregiver when she deploys. She enrolled her children because she is worried about the affects these deployments may have on her children’s education and behavior,” Kendricks said. But there is hope, thanks to volunteers like Drew Doheny of Richmond Hill. Drew’s presence means his Little Brother will have a special person in his life this Christmas while his father is deployed defending our country.

As grateful as BBBSCE is for OJJDP funding, there is still much work to be done. The organization needs both financial and volunteer support from the community to effectively support the hundreds of children waiting for a mentor. “Most of the kids are boys,” Kendricks says, “and some have been waiting for two years or more. We need men, especially African American men, to volunteer to help change the life of a child.”